Advertising hot shop Crispin Porter + Bogusky just launched a beta version of their new site and it is best summed up as twittertubefeed. Never short of great ideas, the folks at CP+B have turned the standard company portfolio site into a full fledged web 2.0 news aggregation/video hub. The genius part is that all the news is about CP+B. Well played CP+B. Well played.

Few newspapers do new media as well The NY Times. From their interactive features, to special blogs by artists and illustrators, The NY Times continues to publish great web content that’s fresh and relevant.

Maira Kalman’s And The Pursuit of Happiness Blog is one of my favorite ongoing features. Kalman (whose illustrated version of Strunk & White’s Elements of Style makes a great gift) uses her unique style of illustration and storytelling to school readers on the various histories surrounding American Democracy.

In the most recent post, Kalman takes us on a tour of the home of Thomas Jefferson, discussing the revered (and sometimes reviled) statesman. The entire post is a wonderful read, but this Jefferson quote about making use of time has been resonating with me for the last few days. Check out the quote below, and definitely check out the rest of the blog over on The NY Times site.

“Two days after Obama got elected, some skinny white boy named Shock with some mad beatboxing skills set up a mic and a sign that read “Free Beats” and just let anyone come up to the microphone to show off their stuff. And as a result, I now firmly believe that this guy should be hired by the city of New York as a public service, just to sit there and give out beats for anyone who wants to rap or sing or play the kazoo or whatever the fuck that hippie chick’s playing.” – from I Heart Chaos

I don’t know what any of it has to do with Obama, but it damn sure was entertaining.

There’s a shitstorm of dialogue brewing over on AdAge right now. Earlier today, Adage published an article written by world famous ad man Jeff Goodby, decrying what he sees as a gross trend in the ad world of agencies creating work simply for the sake of receiving awards. He not only finds fault in agencies, but in the award organizations who continuously award what he sees as less than effective, if not outright dubious campaigns.

As one would expect, the comments are pouring in, and it’s not just your usual comment-fodder either. Some of these folks are making truly valid points. See for yourself.

Also, this is a conversation we designers need to have amongst ourselves. Have we also become “connoisseurs of esoterica?”

Came across Europe By Designers, a slick online exhibition of European artists, illustrators, and designers on Design Observer today. The site itself is nicely designed and there’s some great work to be seen.

The exhibition reminded me of something I’ve been thinking about lately: What exactly does it mean to be a designer? The definition of design seems to be expanding daily. Often, I see work that I’d classify as illustration or fine art, but the artist is known and identifies himself as a designer.

I guess, at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter. If the work is good, you can call it topiary for all I care. Speaking of topiary, where’s my Edward Scissorhands sequel? Isn’t it about time?

This past weekend, while I was off seeing Passion Pit, I regretfully missed what appears to have been an amazing competition of gelatinous proportions in my very own backyard. I am referring only to The Gowanus Studio Space Jell-O Mold Competition which happened on Saturday in Brooklyn. Since I wasn’t present, and eatmedaily has already done a fine job of reporting about it, follow the link to see more pictures and read about the event. Passion Pit was okay, but I doubt they compare to what went down at the competition.